Landscape,
Tombs and Furniture

It’s not trace, it’s
Thrace!

The world that beyond Turkey’s
borders
could be forgiven for never having heard of Thrace. And they could be
forgiven for asking where Thrace is, what happens or happened there and
most important of all, is there anything really interesting and worth
exploring in Thrace? At its peak Thrace prospered from its position on
the main thoroughfare from Byzantium (referred to in later times as
Constantinople and Istanbul) and it is thought to have Turkey’s oldest
inhabited cave around 400,000 years old located at
Yarimburgaz.

Landscape

If you were to venture to the
top of Vize
Hill (in ancient spelling Bisya or Bizye), the capital of ancient
Thrace you will be greeted with an astonishing view of the surrounding
hinterland. When the casual observer scans the wide plains beneath
their vantage point, they will see numerous burial mounds containing
tombs. These tombs which are located roughly 1 to 2 miles apart from
one another are those of the ancient kings of Thrace.

This style of
burial subsequently made its way to Anatolia and then farther on to
other areas of the Near East. In Anatolis, the tomb of King Midas
himself bears an uncanny resemblance to the Thracians’ burial
tombs!

Tombs

The richness of Thrace’s
heritage can be found in its burial tomb
architecture. A once thriving aristocracy motivated the establishment
of Thracic versions of the monumental tombs. During the late Classical
and early Hellenistic periods, the Thracian elite with their
significant knowledge of Hellenic and Hellenistic architecture, created
an effusion of these tombs.
It is thought that Thracian locals would let their creative juices flow
by experimenting by combining various different architectural features
in their designs.

The resulting tombs proved to be among the
most
“evocative funerary complexes“ at such an early date.
Detailed studies of the construction and decoration of these tombs
determined that elements of “Greek order” were to be found.
Consequently it would appear that the tombs were very much inspired by
Greek architecture. These detailed studies also suggested some
influence from the funerary architecture of Asia Minor e.g. the shape
of door coverings, iconic style door frames, sliding doors, lantern
type roofings, funerary beds and relief decoration of the front of
tombs.

Furniture

Furniture has also been found
in Thracian tombs. Two rectangular
monolithic urns have been found at Mal Pepe and stools were documented
at Chichchikova, Naip and Ivanski.

Stools in relief were found in Dolno
while painted stools and murals were found in Kazanlak and
Alexandrovo.

Items of early
street furniture were also found at Kirkareli in the
form of benches and tables. Invariably of stone construction, the
benches and tables were normally square or rectangular in shape and of
monolithic construction. No actual thrones have been discovered in
Thracian tombs although there is a picture of one on a frieze in the
Kazanlak tomb depicting a woman on a throne.
I hope you find this site helpful.